Door for automatic pianos.



J`. SAMPERE. DOOR FOR AUTOMATIC PIANOS. APPLIOATION'PILEDDEU.6,1907.

898,688. Patentedl sept. 15, 1908.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSE SAMPERE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE REGINA COMPANY, OF RAIIWAY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

DOOR FOR AUTOMATIC PIANOS.

Application filed December 6, 1907.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

Serial No. 405,311.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOSE SAMPERE, a subject of the King of Spain, resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Doors for Automatic Pianos, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates vto automatic pianos and particularly to doors for closing the opening through which the operating pedals extend, and has for its object to provide a door of this description which can be easily operated and which can be secured in either its open position or in any position between the open and closed position.

Other objects of my invention will appear from the annexed description and the features of novelty will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate a speciiic embodiment of my invention, Figure l is a sectional view of as much of a piano as is necessary to show my device, Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof on line 22 of Eig. l, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section showing a rack on the keyboard.

A represents the key board of the piano, to the lower surface of which horizontal guides B, B are secured.

C is a wall of the piano casing in which is located the opening D through which the operating pedals project when in their operative position.

E is the base board of the instrument and F are vertical guiding members secured to the inside of the casing O to either side of the opening D. A door G is arranged to travel up and down in the guideways E and serves to close the opening D when the operating pedals are in their folded or inoperative position. One end of a strap H is suitably secured to the door G and passes over a roller I journaled in bearings J which are located on the casing of the instrument. The strap H passes from the roller I through an opening C in the casing to an operating member K. This operating member K comprises two side plates L, L connected by a rod L2 to which the one end of the strap H is fastened. The two side plates L, L are further joined by a top plate L3 having a nose LA1 and terminating in an operating handle L5.

M is a second rod which projects through the side plates L, L, the projecting portions M thereof being arranged to travel in the horizontal guideways B, B.

In operation if itis desired to raise the door Gr the handle L5 is raised slightly, which causes the member K to swing on the projecting portions M of the rod M and thus bring the nose L4 out of contact with the lower surface of the keyboard A. If a pull is now exerted on the handle of the operating member K the projections M will travel in the guides B, B and the door G will be raised through the medium of the strap I-I. The moment the operating handle L5 is released the weight of the door will exert a pull on the strap H and will swing the member l on the projections M toward the left in lfig. 1 and will return the nose L4 against the lower surface of the keyboard A and wedge the member Ii in position. Thus the door may be secured in any position by simply releasing the operating member K after the door has been raised the desired distance. It will be noticed that the rod L2 to which the strap H is attached is considerablylower than the rod M which forms the pivot on which the operating member K swings. The wedging of the member K is thus made positive and if desired the lower surface of the keyboard may be serrated along that part of it parallel with the travel of the operating member or in fact a rack N (see Fig. 3) might be secured parallel with the guides B, B in a position where it will be engaged by the nose Li of the operating member. This rack or roughening of the keyboard is however not essential. My invention thus provides a simple and effective means for securing the door either in its fully open position or in any intermediate position.

I claim:

1. The combination of a casing provided with an opening in one of the walls, a door arranged to travel adjacent to said opening and a member connected with said door 'for operating it and for maintaining said door in any position, said member boing arranged to travel in a path at an angle to the plane in which the door travels.

2. The combination of a casing provided with an opening in one of the walls, a door arranged to travel adjacent to said opening and a sliding member connected with said door for operating it and for maintaining said door in any position, said sliding member being arranged to travel in a path at an angle to the plane in which the door travels.

3. The combination of a casing provided l with an opening in one of the Walls, a sliding door adapted to travel adjacent to said opening, guideWays arranged /at an angle to the Wall in which the opening is located, an operating member movable in said guideways and connected With said door, and a nose on said operating member arranged to engage a portion of the casing to maintain the door in any desired position.

4. rPhe combination of a casing provided with an opening in one of its Walls, a door adapted to travel adjacent to said opening, guideways arranged at an angle to the Wall in which the opening is located, and means movable in said guideways for operating said door and for maintaining it in any desired position.

5. The combination of a casing provided With an opening in one of its Walls, guide- Ways arranged to each side ofsaid opening, a door adapted to travel in said guideways7 seacs a second set of guideways arranged at an angle to the first named guideways, an operating member movable in said second named guideways and a ileXible connection from said operating member to the door.

6. The combination of a casing provided with an opening in one of its Walls, a door arranged to travel adjacent to said opening, guideways arranged at an angle to the Wall in which the opening is located, an voperating member movable in said guideways and connected with said door, a nose on said operating member arranged to engage a portion of the casing to maintain the door in any desired position and a handle on said member for disengaging said nose from the casing and for shifting the operating member in said guides to operate the door.

ln testimony whereof l have signed this specil'ication in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

JOSE SAMPERE. Vitnesses:

JOHN LOTKA, JOHN A. KEHLENBECK. 

